The Defense Department denies offering instruction in abusive interrogation techniques. But U.S. Army Special Forces advisers say they trained select Salvadoran soldiers in what they call “negative-incentive” methods.
One event in Baghdad went unreported this month, not only by the mainstream media but also by the “alternative” press, even though it implies that U.S. control over Iraq’s political future may already be waning.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein released thousands of political and other prisoners from jails across his country, including from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. The broad amnesty was no doubt welcomed by many Iraqis.
Baghdad waited only three days last week before rejecting a British/Dutch proposal to finally lift economic sanctions against Iraq in exchange for new inspections into its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.
President Clinton is committed to backing Iraqi opposition forces toward eventually forming a new government in Baghdad, say Clinton administration officials. But they acknowledge that risky strategy could take years to bear fruit.
Frank Smyth crossed into Iraq with Kurdish guerillas in March 1991, when their uprising against Saddam Hussein was going well. He was, however, captured by Saddam’s army and held in an Iraqi prison. This is a diary account of his imprisonment.
